CIVIL SOCIETY: ENEMY OF THE STATE? 28 November 2021 CCG OPEN LETTER TO CITIZENS OF INDIA 28 November 2021
Dear fellow citizens,
We are a group of former civil servants of the All India and Central Services who have worked with the Central and State Governments in the course of our careers. As a group, we have no affiliation with any political party but believe in impartiality, neutrality and commitment to the Constitution of India.
A disturbing trend in the direction of the country’s governance has become discernible over the past few years. The foundational values of our republic and the cherished norms of governance, which we had taken as immutable, have been under the relentless assault of an arrogant, majoritarian state. The sacrosanct principles of secularism and human rights have come to acquire a pejorative sense. Civil society activists striving to defend these principles are subjected to arrest and indefinite detention under draconian laws that blot our statute book. The establishment does its best to discredit them as anti-national and foreign agents.
Civil society, a diverse mass of formal and informal groups pursuing their own interests, occupies the vast democratic space outside of government and business. As the locus of critique, contestation and negotiation, it is an important stakeholder in governance, as well as
a force multiplier and partner in the project of meeting popular aspirations. But civil society is viewed through an adversarial prism today. Any entity, which dares to highlight deviations from the norms of Constitutional conduct, or question the arbitrary exercise of executive
authority, runs the risk of being projected as a foreign agent and enemy of the people. At a systemic level, the financial viability of civil society organisations is being progressively undermined by tweaking the legal framework governing foreign contributions, deployment of
corporate social responsibility funds and income tax exemptions.
Our anxiety with regard to the articulation of the state-civil society interface has been heightened in recent weeks by statements emanating from high dignitaries of the state. On the occasion of the Foundation Day of the National Human Rights Commission, its Chair, Justice (retd.) Arun Mishra, asserted that India’s creditable record on human rights was being tarnished at the behest of international forces. The Prime Minister, on his part, discerned a political agenda in what he felt was selective perception of human rights violation in certain incidents, while overlooking certain others. And quite shockingly, General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Defence Staff, gave a fillip to the growing menace of vigilantism by endorsing the killing of persons believed to be terrorists by lynch mobs in Kashmir.
Taken together, these portents indicate a deliberate strategy to deny civil society the space and wherewithal for its operation. The contours of this strategy have now been revealed in the New Doval Doctrine propounded by the National Security Adviser (NSA). Reviewing the passing out parade of IPS probationers at the National Police Academy in Hyderabad, Shri Ajit Doval proclaimed:
“The new frontiers of war, what you call the fourth- generation warfare, is the civil society. Wars have ceased to become an effective instrument for achieving political or military objectives. They are too expensive and unaffordable and, at the same time, there is uncertainty about their outcome. But it is the civil society that can be subverted, that can be suborned, that can be divided, that can be manipulated to hurt the interests of a nation. You are there to see that they stand fully protected.”
Instead of exhorting the IPS probationers to abide by the values enshrined in the Constitution to which they had sworn allegiance, the NSA stressed the primacy of the representatives of the people, and the laws framed by them. It would be pertinent to recall here that the term “fourth-generation warfare” is normally employed in relation to a conflict where the state is fighting non-state actors, such as terror groups and insurgents. Civil society now finds itself placed in this company. Earlier, the term “Urban Naxal” was being used to denigrate individual human rights activists. Clearly, under the New Doval Doctrine, people like Father Stan Swamy would become the arch enemy of the Indian state and the prime concern and target of its security forces.
The NSA’s clarion call for an onslaught on a demonised civil society is of a piece with the narrative of hate targeting defenders of Constitutional values and human rights that is regularly purveyed by the high and mighty in the establishment. The defining traits of the current dispensation are hubris and an utter disregard of democratic norms. These were manifest in the steamrolling of a discriminatory Citizenship(Amendment) Act through Parliament, its linkage with the National Register of Citizens, and the ruthless suppression of the spontaneous protests that erupted in various parts of the country.
The same traits were in evidence in the enactment of a set of three farm laws without public debate, stakeholder consultations or endorsement by alliance partners, and the highhanded treatment accorded to the agitated farmers encamped at the gates of Delhi. Their heroic resistance over fourteen months elicited the choicest of epithets from the establishment. Dubbed variously as “Andolanjeevis” (professional agitators), “Left-wing extremists” and “Khalistanis”, they were accused of working at the behest of “Foreign Destructive Ideology”, in a bizarre word-play with the acronym FDI referring to Foreign Direct Investment. Electoral compulsions might have led the Prime Minister to announce the decision to repeal the hated laws, but the damage done to the nation’s polity and social fabric will be hard to repair.
Let us hope that the government will realize the pitfalls of demonising dissent and trying to suppress civil resistance by brute force. It is also hoped that the alumni of the National Police Academy, or indeed our security forces in general, will not be swayed by the NSA’s
rhetoric and remember that their primary duty is to uphold Constitutional values, which override the will of the political executive. Even the laws framed by the legislatures have to be tested on the touchstone of constitutionality and accepted by the people. If this fundamental principle is not accepted, we may turn to the well-known satirical poem “The Solution”, written
in a different context by the famous German playwright Bertolt Brecht, which concludes with
the following words:
Would it not in that case be simpler for the government To dissolve the people
And elect another?
SATYAMEVA JAYATE
(102 signatories, at pages 4-8 below)
1. Anita Agnihotri IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Department of Social Justice Empowerment, GoI
2. Salahuddin Ahmad IAS (Retd.) Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Rajasthan
3. S.P. Ambrose IAS (Retd.) Former Additional Secretary, Ministry of Shipping & Transport, GoI
4. Anand Arni RAS (Retd.) Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI
5. Vappala Balachandran IPS (Retd.) Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI
6. Gopalan Balagopal IAS (Retd.) Former Special Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
7. Chandrashekhar Balakrishnan IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Coal, GoI
8. T.K. Banerji IAS (Retd.) Former Member, Union Public Service Commission
9. Sharad Behar IAS (Retd.) Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh
10. Aurobindo Behera IAS (Retd.) Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Odisha
11. Madhu Bhaduri IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Portugal
12. Meeran C Borwankar
IPS (Retd.) Former DGP, Bureau of Police Research and Development, GoI
13. Ravi Budhiraja IAS (Retd.) Former Chairman, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, GoI
14. Sundar Burra IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra
15. R.
Chandramohan
IAS (Retd.) Former Principal Secretary, Transport and Urban
Development, Govt. of NCT of Delhi
16. Rachel
Chatterjee
IAS (Retd.) Former Special Chief Secretary, Agriculture, Govt. of
Andhra Pradesh
17. Kalyani
Chaudhuri
IAS (Retd.) Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
18. Gurjit Singh
Cheema
IAS (Retd.) Former Financial Commissioner (Revenue), Govt. of
Punjab
19. F.T.R. Colaso IPS (Retd.) Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Karnataka &
former Director General of Police, Govt. of Jammu &
Kashmir
20. Anna Dani IAS (Retd.) Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra
21. Surjit K. Das IAS (Retd.) Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Uttarakhand
22. Vibha Puri Das IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, GoI
5
23. P.R. Dasgupta IAS (Retd.) Former Chairman, Food Corporation of India, GoI
24. Pradeep K. Deb IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Deptt. Of Sports, GoI
25. Nitin Desai Former Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance,
GoI
26. M.G.
Devasahayam
IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Govt. of Haryana
27. Sushil Dubey IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Sweden
28. A.S. Dulat IPS (Retd.) Former OSD on Kashmir, Prime Minister’s Office, GoI
29. K.P. Fabian IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Italy
30. Prabhu Ghate IAS (Retd.) Former Addl. Director General, Department of Tourism,
GoI
31. Gourisankar
Ghosh
IAS (Retd.) Former Mission Director, National Drinking Water
Mission, GoI
32. Suresh K. Goel IFS (Retd.) Former Director General, Indian Council of Cultural
Relations, GoI
33. S. Gopal IPS (Retd.) Former Special Secretary, GoI
34. S.K. Guha IAS (Retd.) Former Joint Secretary, Department of Women & Child
Development, GoI
35. H.S. Gujral IFoS (Retd.) Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Govt. of
Punjab
36. Meena Gupta IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests,
GoI
37. Ravi Vira
Gupta
IAS (Retd.) Former Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India
38. Wajahat
Habibullah
IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, GoI and former Chief Information
Commissioner
39. Deepa Hari IRS
(Resigned)
40. Sajjad Hassan IAS (Retd.) Former Commissioner (Planning), Govt. of Manipur
41. Kamal Jaswal IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Department of Information
Technology, GoI
42. Brijesh Kumar IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Department of Information
Technology, GoI
43. Ish Kumar IPS (Retd.) Former DGP (Vigilance & Enforcement), Govt. of
Telangana and former Special Rapporteur, National
Human Rights Commission
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44. Sudhir Kumar IAS (Retd.) Former Member, Central Administrative Tribunal
45. Subodh Lal IPoS
(Resigned)
Former Deputy Director General, Ministry of
Communications, GoI
46. Harsh Mander IAS (Retd.) Govt. of Madhya Pradesh
47. Amitabh
Mathur
IPS (Retd.) Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI
48. L.L. Mehrotra IFS (Retd.) Former Special Envoy to the Prime Minister and former
Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, GoI
49. Aditi Mehta IAS (Retd.) Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Rajasthan
50. Shivshankar
Menon
IFS (Retd.) Former Foreign Secretary and Former National Security
Adviser
51. Sonalini
Mirchandani
IFS
(Resigned)
GoI
52. Malay Mishra IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Hungary
53. Sunil Mitra IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Ministry of Finance, GoI
54. Noor
Mohammad
IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, National Disaster Management
Authority, GoI
55. Avinash
Mohananey
IPS (Retd.) Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Sikkim
56. Satya Narayan
Mohanty
IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary General, National Human Rights
Commission
57. Deb Mukharji IFS (Retd.) Former High Commissioner to Bangladesh and former
Ambassador to Nepal
58. Shiv Shankar
Mukherjee
IFS (Retd.) Former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
59. Gautam
Mukhopadhaya
IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Myanmar
60. Pranab S.
Mukhopadhyay
IAS (Retd.) Former Director, Institute of Port Management, GoI
61. Nagalsamy IA&AS
(Retd.)
Former Principal Accountant General, Tamil Nadu &
Kerala
62. Sobha
Nambisan
IAS (Retd.) Former Principal Secretary (Planning), Govt. of
Karnataka
63. P.A. Nazareth IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Egypt and Mexico
64. P. Joy Oommen IAS (Retd.) Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Chhattisgarh
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65. Amitabha
Pande
IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Inter-State Council, GoI
66. Mira Pande IAS (Retd.) Former State Election Commissioner, West Bengal
67. Maxwell
Pereira
IPS (Retd.) Former Joint Commissioner of Police, Delhi
68. Alok Perti IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Ministry of Coal, GoI
69. R.
Poornalingam
IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, GoI
70. Rajesh Prasad IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to the Netherlands
71. R.M.
Premkumar
IAS (Retd.) Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra
72. N.K.
Raghupathy
IAS (Retd.) Former Chairman, Staff Selection Commission, GoI
73. V.P. Raja IAS (Retd.) Former Chairman, Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory
Commission
74. K. Sujatha Rao IAS (Retd.) Former Health Secretary, GoI
75. M.Y. Rao IAS (Retd.)
76. Prasadranjan
Ray
IAS (Retd.) Former Chairperson, West Bengal Electricity Regulatory
Commission
77. Satwant Reddy IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Chemicals and Petrochemicals, GoI
78. Vijaya Latha
Reddy
IFS (Retd.) Former Deputy National Security Adviser, GoI
79. Julio Ribeiro IPS (Retd.) Former Adviser to Governor of Punjab & former
Ambassador to Romania
80. Aruna Roy IAS
(Resigned)
81. Manabendra N.
Roy
IAS (Retd.) Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
82. A.K. Samanta IPS (Retd.) Former Director General of Police (Intelligence), Govt. of
West Bengal
83. Deepak Sanan IAS (Retd.) Former Principal Adviser (AR) to Chief Minister, Govt.
of Himachal Pradesh
84. G. Sankaran IC&CES
(Retd.)
Former President, Customs, Excise and Gold (Control)
Appellate Tribunal
85. S. Satyabhama IAS (Retd.) Former Chairperson, National Seeds Corporation, GoI
86. N.C. Saxena IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Planning Commission, GoI
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87. A. Selvaraj IRS (Retd.) Former Chief Commissioner, Income Tax, Chennai, GoI
88. Ardhendu Sen IAS (Retd.) Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
89. Abhijit
Sengupta
IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Ministry of Culture, GoI
90. Aftab Seth IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Japan
91. Ashok Kumar
Sharma
IFoS (Retd.) Former MD, State Forest Development Corporation,
Govt. of Gujarat
92. Ashok Kumar
Sharma
IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Finland and Estonia
93. Navrekha
Sharma
IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Indonesia
94. Raju Sharma IAS (Retd.) Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Uttar
Pradesh
95. Tara Ajai Singh IAS (Retd.) Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Karnataka
96. Tirlochan Singh IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, National Commission for Minorities,
GoI
97. Parveen Talha IRS (Retd.) Former Member, Union Public Service Commission
98. P.S.S. Thomas IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary General, National Human Rights
Commission
99. Hindal Tyabji IAS (Retd.) Former Chief Secretary rank, Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir
100. Ashok Vajpeyi IAS (Retd.) Former Chairman, Lalit Kala Akademi
101. Ramani
Venkatesan
IAS (Retd.) Former Director General, YASHADA, Govt. of
Maharashtra
102. Rudi Warjri IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Colombia, Ecuador and Costa
Rica
